OPTIMIZATION OF HYBRID MICRO-CCHP SYSTEMS IN THE DAY-AHEAD

ELECTRICITY MARKET
C. Brandonia*, M. Renzib, F. Caresanac, F.Polonarac
a
Universit degli studi e-Campus, Via Isimbardi 10, 22060, Novedrate (CO), Italy
b
Libera universit di Bolzano, Piazza Universit 5, 39199, Bolzano, Italy
c
Universit Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60124, Ancona, Italy
*corresponding author: caterina.brandoni@uniecampus.it

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

The introduction of more efficient fossil fuel

technologies, combined with renewable sources
can provide an interesting reduction in final
energy consumption of the building sector.
The present paper deals with a hybrid system
made up of a micro-Combined Cooling Heat and
Power (CCHP) technology and a High
Concentrator Photovoltaic (HCPV) system,
suitable for the residential and tertiary sectors in
the Mediterranean area. The aim of the work is
to identify the optimal strategies for the system
management on the basis of the electric energy
value determined by the day-ahead electricity
market. For many times CCHP systems, and
especially small units, have been granted fixed
electricity prices, but recently, fixed prices have
been replaced with variable prices, according to
the negotiations on the day-ahead electricity
market, providing both new opportunities and
the need of identifying new management
strategies. A specific algorithm has been
developed to assess the operation of the hybrid
poly-generation system aimed at minimizing the
operational costs, the primary energy usage and
the carbon dioxide emission of the entire
system. An ad hoc model describes the
performances of a HCPV module, whose
production has been calculated on the basis of
experimental data from a Multi-junction (MJ)
solar cell test-bench and from simulations data
coming from a ray tracing software. Apart from
the ICE, for which a specific model has been
developed in Matlab/Simulink environment, the
other units (e.g. vapour compression chiller,
absorption chiller, heating boiler) have been
simulated on the basis of their main
characteristic parameters (i.e. coefficient of
performance, efficiency). Finally, a sensitivity
analysis has been developed in order to assess
how the optimal solution varies upon the main
design parameters. Results show a reduction
from 30% up to 50% of the operational costs
compared with separate energy production.
Keywords: micro-CHP, HCPV, multi-objective
linear optimization, hybrid systems

The building sector is one of the main energyconsumption sector as it affects the 32% of final
worldwide energy consumption. In the EU it is
responsible of 40% of the energy consumption
and 36% of the CO2 emissions [1], thus several
schemes and subsidies have been committed
with the aim of reducing its environmental
impact. The Energy Performance of Building
Directive 2010/31/EU, establishes the minimum
energy efficiency performance for new and
existing buildings, and requires the certification
of all the new buildings with the target to have
nearly-zero buildings by 2021.
According to International Energy Agency, IEA,
it has been estimated that by 2030 the 25% of
CO2 savings potential will come from the
buildings sector [2].
In addition to energy saving actions on the
building envelope, Distributed Generation, DG,
such as micro-CHP technologies and generation
from renewable resources, can strongly
contribute to reduce the building energy
consumption.
For instance, it has been estimated that microCHP technology can provide the 16% savings of
CO emissions produced by UK single dwellings,
which is a highly significant result compared to
other measures that can be deployed in the
domestic sector [3].
Among renewable sources, PV technology has
demonstrated to be particularly suitable for
building applications, since: i) several regions
have just reached the grid parity, defined as the
moment when PV levelized cost of energy
becomes competitive with electricity prices;
ii) PV energy production trend is strongly
correlated to building load one; iii) for existing
constructions, which represent the majority of
buildings, no additional surface is needed;
iv) there is an indirect energy conservation effect
due to the involvement of consumers in
electricity supply [4].
Among PV technology, HCPV is one of the most
promising for solar energy conversion. The aim
of this technology is to reduce the amount of
photosensitive material and to replace it with a
2

cheaper
optical
system.
While
the
photosensitive element is the most expensive
component in a traditional silicon photovoltaic
module, in a HCPV module its cost is only a
fraction of the whole module.
On the other hand this technology shows some
disadvantages compared with traditional silicon
systems. First of all, since HCPV units use
optical systems, they can use only a fraction of
the whole available solar radiation, the direct
solar rays. This means that HCPV systems are
really effective only in those countries where the
solar radiation is more intense and constant, just
like the Mediterranean region, the MENA region,
US, central and south America, China, Australia
which are anyway very large and important
markets.
A recent promising application is given by the
combination of PV technology hybridized with
micro-CHP technology, which, according to a
study developed for the U.S, has the potential to
reduce the energy waste and increase the share
of PV by a factor of five. This can be achieved
thanks to the reduction of intermittency, which is
one of the main drawback of PV technology [5].
The present paper focuses on a hybrid polygeneration system made up of an ICE fuelled by
natural gas and a High Concentration
PhotoVoltaic (HCPV) system, for which specific
models have been developed [6,7].
Since the performance of the poly-generation
system depends on several factors (i.e. electric
energy and fuel price, building energy demand,
unit characteristics) an optimization energy
dispatch algorithm has been developed.
With the aim of considering not only cost
issues, but also energy and environmental
aspects, a multi-objective optimization approach
has been adopted. The target of the optimization
is to achieve the minimization of the primary
energy consumption, the reduction of the carbon
dioxide emission and the fuel consumption,
adopting specific weighting factors defined by
the authors.
Firstly, the system characteristics and models
are described, secondly a detailed description of
the dispatch algorithm is developed and finally,
in order to validate the algorithm and to assess
the micro-CHP/PV systems, three case studies
for the residential and tertiary sector are
discussed in details.

Both micro-CHP and HCPV systems are

connected in parallel to the grid and to the enduser; this means that the electrical load of the
end-user can be satisfied by both the power
devices and by the grid. In the same way, the
energy produced by the devices can be either
sent to the end-user, or sold to the grid, or used
to feed the vapour compression chiller.
The thermal demand can be satisfied either by
the additional heating boiler, or by the thermal
power recovered from the ICE, or by the thermal
power stored in the TES.
The cooling demand can be satisfied either by
the vapour compression chiller or by the
absorption chiller, driven by the thermal power
recovered by the micro-CHP unit or by the
thermal power stored in the TES. The inclusion
of both the cooling devices increases the lay-out
complexity and, in general, it is not feasible in a
real installation. Anyway, the complexity of this
layout gives the opportunity to understand which
of the two cooling systems is the most suitable
when a multi-objective optimization criteria is
followed.
Component modeling of the hybrid-system
The ICE has been simulated in Matlab/Simulink
environment by describing all the subsystems
which compose the ICE, such as the engine
shaft, the engine and the heat exchangers.
The key assumption was that the thermo-fluiddynamic processes of the engine are much
faster than the change rate in thermodynamic
boundary conditions. Thus the ICE has been
modelled as a quasi-stationary machine and the
ICE performances are simulated on the basis of
two look-up tables defined according to the
engine maps provided by the manufacturer. A
more detailed description of the system can be
found in a previous work written by some of the
authors [6].
Table 1 shows the main performance parameter
of the ICE.
It is important to point out that an electric limit of
6 kW e and a thermal limit of 18 kW th were
applied to the cogenerator operating schedule,
the former being the minimum electric power
ensured by the plant without the risk of a shutdown, and the latter being a consequence of the
first.

SYSTEM OVERVIEW AND MODELING

The configuration A of Figure 1 shows a
conceptual layout of the hybrid poly-generation
system under analysis, aimed at maximizing
plant flexibility. The plant is made up of an ICE,
a HCPV unit, a Thermal Energy Storage (TES),
an additional heating boiler, an absorption chiller
and a vapour compression chiller.

Table 1: ICE main parameters

PARAMETER
VALUE
Max Electric power
28 kW e
Max Thermal power
58 kW th
Min Electric power
6 kW e
Min Thermal power
18 kW th
Electric efficiency
28.5%

Table 2: Characteristics of the single HCPV

module
PARAMETER
VALUE
Power output
2
(DNI 900 W/m ,
70 W
ambient temp. 25C)
Cell Typology
Monolithic Triple
Junction
Cell dimension
Circular, 2.3 mm diam.
Cell efficiency
41%
(flash test)
Optics
Fresnel lens and
secondary optics
Optics efficiency
85 %
(on axis)
Dimensions
1.6x0.4x0.4 m
The main items, which have to be considered in
order to simulate a HCPV systems are: i) the
availability of Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI),
ii) the optical system response and iii) the solar
cell response.
For the simulation of the HCPV module under
analysis a simplified approach has been
adopted: the profile of the solar radiation
spectrum is neglected and only the whole DNI
flux is used as an input parameter.
The optical efficiency has been defined on the
basis of: i) simulations coming from a ray-tracing
software and ii) the mechanical accuracy of the
dual-axis tracking mechanism defined trough a
probability function.
Figure 2 shows the trend of the relative optical
efficiency as a function of the misalignment error
of the tracking mechanism [7].

Relative optical efficiency

100%

An ad hoc model has been developed to

simulate the performance of the HCPV system.
The modelled system refers to a prototype that
was designed and developed by Strategie srl,
an academic spin off of Universit Politecnica
delle Marche, in collaboration with some of the
present authors.
The key characteristics of the system lies in its
innovative design since it uses a very compact
and lightweight chassis, an accurate tracking
mechanism and a very small triple junction solar
cell. Moreover, a specific optic was developed to
suite the solar cell and to reduce the
encumbrance of the module. All of these
characteristics make this system suitable for
small power generation application and building
integration. The HCPV plant can be assembled
according to the user need, in terms of electric
power requirement and space availability.
Table 2 shows the main characteristics of a
single module.

80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

Misalignment error []

Figure 2: Relative optical efficiency vs.

misalignment error
As regards the optics, the system uses a
Fresnel lens as first optic and a reflective cone
as a secondary optic. The secondary optic has a
double aim: first to improve the concentrated
solar flux homogeneity on the cell (which is a
requirement to achieve higher cell fill factor and
efficiency); secondly, to reduce the optical
efficiency losses in case of tracking
misalignment (the radiation that is not directed
to the cell is reflected by the secondary optics
and redirected on the photosensitive material).
The optical concentration level has been pushed
up to 1000 suns in the modelled prototype. This
high concentration ratio can be achieved thanks
to the use of a small MJ solar cell. The cell hot
spots are smaller and better distributed on the
chassis thus the extra heat can be removed
more easily.
Once the optics performance is defined, the
triple junction solar cell response can be
simulated by means of a semi-empirical diode
model. The parameters that are required to
define the model are obtained by the I-V
performance curve of the cell. The experimental
data come from a specific test bench that can
acquire the I-V curve of the cell at various
concentration levels and cell temperatures. A
diode model is assessed to define the
performance of the cell; the parameters in the
model are deduced by a regression that
minimizes
the
difference
between
the
experimental I-V curve and the I-V curve from
the analytical model. Also the cell temperature is
an important parameter that influences its
performance; for this reason, a specific model is
defined. The cells temperature depends on the
ambient conditions (ambient temperature) and
the optical concentration ratio (optical efficiency
and DNI). On the basis of the experimental data
an accurate model has been defined.
Figure 3 shows the comparison between an
experimental I-V curve and the I-V curve
described by the analytical model.

Experimental I-V curve

Mathematical model

0,7
0,6

Current [A]

0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2

The model has been formulated in general

terms and can be easily applied to several
cases input parameters.
Equation 1 shows the expression of the
objective function defined in the paper, which is
given by the yearly weighted sum of: i) operating
costs, Cop, ii) CO2 emissions cost, CCDE, and iii)
primary energy consumption cost, CPEC.

0,1
0

min w C(t) + w C (t) + w C(t)

(1)

0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 1,2 1,4 1,6 1,8 2 2,2 2,4 2,6 2,8 3
Voltage [V]

Figure 3: Comparison between an experimental

I-V curve and a modelled I-V curve
A more detailed description of the analytical
model can be found in a previous paper written
by some of the authors [7]. Also a forthcoming
paper, which is focused on the HCPV model and
the experimental performance results found in
laboratories, will be published soon.
The other components have been simulated on
the basis of the main characteristic parameters,
as it will be shown above.

where the sum of weighting factors has to be

equal to one.
The operating energy costs of the system, Cop,
(equation 2) are given by the sum of the:

cost for the electricity bought from the grid,

Egrid, at the electricity purchasing price cel

cost for feeding the boiler, Fboiler, at the fuel

price cf

cost for feeding the micro-CHP unit, at the

fuel price cf_CHP , that can be different from
the boiler fuel price, cf, thanks to national
policies aimed at supporting CHP systems

cost
for micro-CHP
operation
and
maintenance, cO&M, specific of the
technology, which is defined in our case as
a function of the electric energy produced by
the micro-CHP unit, ECHP

THE REAL-TIME OPTIMIZATION

ALGORITHM
In order to define the optimal hybrid system
operating conditions, several factors have to be
considered, such as energy loads, ambient
conditions, unit performances constrains.
Furthermore, recently, also for small CHP units
and renewable devices, fixed electricity selling
prices have been replaced with variable selling
prices, according to the negotiations on the spot
electricity market, which introduces a further
variable parameter to be taken into account.
The optimal management of poly-generation
system in a liberalised market requires to
investigate new energy management strategies,
which could provide further advantages for the
introduction of DG devices towards the separate
energy production (which means buying
electricity from the grid and satisfying the
thermal need with a heating boiler).
Different optimization criteria can be considered
in the optimisation analysis, such as, for
instance, the minimisation of: i) annual costs,
ii) net present worth of the system under
analysis, iii) operating costs, iv) carbon dioxide
emissions, and v) primary energy consumption.
For the present study a multi-objective approach
has been followed, considering the minimization
of three items: i) operating costs, ii) carbon
dioxide emission and iii) primary energy
consumption, on the basis of weighting factors
defined a priori; thus all the three objectives
have been expressed on cost basis.

minus:

revenues coming from the electricity sold to

the grid, Esell, at the electricity selling price,
csell

revenues coming from national support

mechanism for solar energy production,
cfeed_in_PV, which is generally a function of the
electric energy produced by the solar
device, EHCPV

C(t) = c(t) E (t) + c(t) F(t) +

c_ (t) F (t) + c (t) E (t) c(t)
E(t) c__ (t) E (t)
(2)

The costs of carbon dioxide emissions and fuel

consumption have been calculated on the basis
of, respectively, Carbon Dioxide Emissions,
CDE (eq.3), and Primary Energy Consumption,
PEC (eq.4), multiplied for 730/toe and
243/tonCO2, which are the cost of the crude oil
derived from the commodity market exchange
and the cost of CO2. The latter is evaluated
considering that each ton of oil equivalent
corresponds, on average, to 3 tonCO2eq/toe (this

results from a rough average of physical

conversion factors related to different fuels, such
as methane 2349 tonCO2/ton and gas/diesel oil
3.101 tonCO2/ton).
Carbon dioxide emissions of the hybrid system,
ECO2, are given by the sum of:

CDE derived from the electricity bought from

the grid, Egrid, calculated on the basis of the
LCA
emission
factor,
el,
of
0.578 tCO2eq/MWh, defined by [8]

CDE coming from the fuel to feed the boiler,

Fboiler, calculated on the basis of the LCA
emission factor defined for natural gas,
equal to 0.237 tCO2eq/MWh [8]

CDE emissions coming from the fuel to feed

the CHP, FCHP, calculated on the basis of
the LCA emission factor defined for natural
gas, equal to 0.237 tCO2eq/MWh

minus

CDE saved from the electricity produced by

the hybrid system and exported to the grid,
E, calculated on the basis of the LCA
emission factor, el, of 0.578 tCO2eq/MWh,
defined by [8]

for every time step, the electricity produced

by each energy device cannot exceed their
maximum rating

from the second time step the total amount

of the heat stored at the beginning of each
time step is equal to the non-dissipated heat
stored in the previous time step plus the
heat sent to the storage device in that time
step, minus the heat released to meet the
heat demand

electricity energy balance during each time

step

thermal energy balance in each time step

It has been chosen to use linear programming

techniques, taking the advantage of rapid
calculations. For this purpose, an iterative
procedure has been studied in order to
overcome the non-linearities coming from the
ICE module (since its performances are based
on the engine maps). Figure 4 shows the
iterative procedure developed.

CDE( ) (t) E (t) + (t) F(t) +

(t) F (t) (t) E(t)
(3)

The primary energy consumption of the hybrid

system are given by the sum of the:

primary energy consumption for the

electricity bought from the grid, Egrid,
calculated on the basis of Primary Energy
Conversion Factor for electricity, PECFel, of
0.187 toe/MWh, which considers an
electrical efficiency of 46%, which is the
average value of the Italian electric power
generation park [9]

primary energy consumption of the boiler,

Fboiler, calculated using the Primary Energy
Conversion Factor for fuel, PEFCf,
0.086 toe/MWh

primary energy consumption of the microCHP unit, calculated on the basis of the
Primary to Electric Conversion Factor for
fuel 0.086 toe/MWh

PEC(t)  (t) E (t) + PECF(t)

F(t) + PECF(t) F (t) PECF(t)
E(t)
The main constraints considered are:

(4)

Figure 4: Iterative procedure developed

At first a multi-objective optimization, MOLP,
procedure defines the operating condition of the
hybrid system assuming, as input parameters, a
constant value of both ICE electrical efficiency
and the power to heat ratio.
The MOLP procedure gives, among the other
results, the ICE power output, that is used as an
input value for the ICE model (in electrical
priority mode). The ICE model outputs are the
electrical efficiency and the power to heat ratio,

With the aim of assessing the presented

algorithm and pointing out pros and cons of
hybrid poly-generation plants and real-time
control, three different case studies have been
considered: i) a 10-flat apartment building, ii) an
office and iii) a hotel. The case studies have
been analysed in a previous paper [7] to assess
the advantages derived from a variable speed
ICE unit compared with separate production. For
each case a typical winter, fall/spring and
summer day have been analysed.
The main assumptions of the present study are:

boiler, absorption chiller and vapour

compression chiller performances are
assessed on the basis of unit efficiency

HCPV system and ICE system have been

sized on the the peak demand, which is
equal to 28 kW e, for all the studied cases

operative costs of the TES are omitted

the purchasing electricity price is determined

from the day-ahead Italian electricity market,
thus the time step assumed in the analysis
is 1 hour

the electricity selling price has been defined

as a percentage (60%) of the electricity
purchasing price
the cost of fuelling the micro-CHP unit is
slightly lower the cost for feeding the boiler

at first, the same weight to the three

objectives have been assumed
Table 3 shows the main technical and economic
parameters considered in the analysis.
The configurations of the system following
analysed (Figure 1) are:

configuration A (poly-generation system),

made up of: i) a micro-CHP unit, ii) a HCPV

configuration B (trigeneration system), made

up of i) a micro-CHP devices, ii) a boiler
system, iv) an absorption chiller and v) a
vapour compression chiller;

configuration C (solar electrical generation),

made up of i) a HCPV system, ii) a boiler
system, iii) a vapour compression chiller;
configuration C (separate production), made up
of i) a boiler system, and ii) a vapour
compression chiller.
Table 3: Parameters considered in the analysis
PARAMETER
VALUE
COP chiller
3
COP absorption chiller
0.7
Boiler efficiency
90%
Boiler NG cost [/Nmc]
0.5
CHP NG cost [/Nmc]
0.4
Feed in tariff [/kWh]
0.12
Case 1: 10-flat apartment
Figures 5 shows electricity and thermal demand
and supply of the hybrid system defined on the
basis of the real-time optimization procedure.
It can be seen that the micro-CHP device
follows the thermal demand, independently from
the electricity purchasing price. The electricity
produced by the HCPV is in part used by the
user and in part sold to the grid.
The boiler is switched on to satisfy the thermal
demand that overcomes the thermal micro-CHP
maximum power output.
cost_electricity
E_grid
E_HCPV
H_boiler
H_CHP

E_demand
E_CHP
E_sold
H_demand

80

0,25
0,2

60

0,15
40
0,1
20

/kWh

CASE STUDIES

system, iii) a boiler system, iv) an absorption

chiller and v) a vapour compression chiller;

kW

which are then used as input parameters for the

MOLP procedure in an iterative process.
The termination criteria is given by the
minimization of the difference between the
electrical efficiency calculated by the ICE model
and the electrical efficiency used in the MOLP
model.
Another exit condition has been introduced
when the electrical output defined by the MOLP
procedure is lower the minimum electrical output
of the ICE (6 kW e).
It is important to point out that from the second
time step, the MOLP model also considers the
thermal energy stored by the TES in the
previous time step. Other input parameters are
the load data, energy prices, ambient
temperature.

0,05

0
1

9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 5: Simulation results for a winter day

Case 1.10-flat apartment building
Figure 6 shows the simulation results for a
fall/spring day (April). The micro-CHP unit
follows the thermal demand until 11:00, then the
unit is switched-off. The reason is due to the

electric power limit of the ICE system, which is

6 kW e. As a matter of fact, the ICE production at
1:00 a.m., when the thermal demand is slightly
higher the one at 11:00 a.m., is 6.45 kW e.
At 6:00 p.m., when there is an increase in the
thermal demand the micro-CHP unit is switched
on again.
cost_electricity
E_grid
E_HCPV
H_boiler
H_CHP

Edemand
E_CHP
E_sold
H_demand

50

0,12

40

0,1

kW

0,06
20

/kWh

0,08

30

Table 4: Objective function value for different

cases studied
Configuration
Winter
Fall/spring Summer
A
148
80
94
B
171
113
192
C
195
91
94
D
220
124
192

0,04

10

0,02
0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 6: Simulation results for a fall/spring day

Case 1.10-flat apartment building
Figure 7 shows the hybrid system performances
in a summer day (July); in this case, the microCHP is always switched off, since the thermal
demand is low; the electricity demand is lower
than electricity produced by the HCPV unit from
9:00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.
The use of the vapor compression chiller instead
of the absorption chiller to satisfy the cooling
demand shows to be the best strategy to
minimize the three objectives considered.

Case 2- hotel
Figures 8, 9 and 10 show the simulation results
for the hotel case in a winter, spring/fall and
summer day respectively.
As in the previous case, the CHP unit follows
the thermal demand.
The high thermal demand and the simultaneous
electric-thermal load make the application of a
micro-CHP unit convenient for the entire day.
The electricity produced by the ICE is mostly
self-consumed by the end-user and only a small
fraction is sold in correspondence of the peak
production of the HCPV system.
cost_electricity
Egrid
E_HCPV
H_CHP
H_boiler

E_demand
E_CHP
E_sold
H_demand

Edemand

Egrid

E_CHP

E_HCPV

E_sold

50

0,25

Cool_demand

E_chiller

H_boiler

40

0,2

H_CHP

H_demand
30

0,15

20

0,1

10

0,05

0,25

100

0,2

80

0,15

60
0,1

40

/kWh

120

kW

cost_electricity

/kWh

kW

Data shows that configuration A (polygeneration system) provides the best results in
winter and fall/spring days. During summer, as
expected from results shown in figure 7, the
case of poly-generation coincides with the case
of having only the HCPV unit as power
generation device (configuration C, solar
electrical generation).

0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

0,05

20
0

0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 7: Simulation results for a summer day

Case 1.10-flat apartment building
Table 4 shows a comparison between the total
costs from the optimization strategy for the polygeneration system, and the total costs for the
other configurations (B, C, D shown in Figure 1)
previously described.

Figure 8: Simulation results for a winter day

Case 1.Hotel
During a spring/fall day there is a reduction of
the CHP production, which is switched on only
in case of high thermal demand.
As shown in figure 10, during summer days part
of the electric demand is satisfied by the HCPV
unit and part is bought from the grid. Due to the
low thermal demand there is no convenience to
switch on the micro-CHP unit.
As in the previous case, the objective function

value of the hybrid system configurations has

been compared to configuration B, C and D
(Table 5). The poly-generation system
(configuration A) always provides the best
results in terms of minimization of the objective
function for all the analyzed cases; in summer it
gives the same results as adopting only the
HCPV
as
power
generation
device
(configuration C).
Edemand
E_CHP
E_sold
H_CHP

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

cost_electricity
Egrid
E_HCPV
H_demand

0,12
0,1
0,08
0,06

/kWh

E_demand
E_CHP
E_sold
H_boiler

50

0,25

40

0,2

30

0,15

20

0,1

10

0,05

0,02
0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 9: Simulation results for a spring/fall day

Case 1.Hotel

/kWh

0,04

kW

kW

cost_electricity
E_grid
E_HCPV
H_demand
H_boiler

This derives from the fact that all the objectives

have been weighted with the same factors and
that minimizing the primary energy consumption
or minimizing the carbon dioxide emission is
essentially the same criteria.
During the spring/fall day there is a further
reduction in the number of operative hours of
the CHP unit, and during summer the unit is
always switched off.
It is interesting to notice that in none of the three
studied cases the absorption chiller is used to
satisfy the cooling demand.

0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 11: Simulation results for a winter day

Case 1.Office

40

0,2

20

0,1

0
1

cost_electricity
E_grid
E_HCPV
H_demand
H_CHP

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 10: Simulation results for a summer day

Case 1.Hotel

kW

0,3

kW

60

30

0,12

25

0,1

20

0,08

15

0,06

10

0,04

0,02

0
1

Table 5: Objective function value for different

cases studied
Configurations Winter Fall/spring Summer
A
167
129
109
B
194
165
217
C
205
135
109
D
232
172
217

Case 3- office
Figures 11, 12 and 13 show respectively the
simulation results for the office case in a winter,
spring/fall and summer day. As in the previous
case, the CHP unit follows the thermal demand
independently from the price fluctuations.

Edemand
E_CHP
E_sold
H_boiler

/kWh

Edemand
E_CHP
E_sold
E_chiller
H_boiler

/kWh

cost_electricity
Egrid
E_HCPV
Ecool_demad
H_demand

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 12: Simulation results for a spring/fall day

Case 1.Office
Table 6 compares the objective function value of
the poly-generation system (configuration A),
with configuration B (trigeneration system), C
(solar electrical generation) and D (separate
production). In this case, in the summer period
the usage of the HCPV module (configuration
B), with respect to a separate production,
provides a gain of 85%. This means that, in
case of long summer period, the application of
the HCPV system is better than hybrid or
cogeneration systems.

characterized by higher purchasing electricity

prices.

Edemand
E_CHP
E_sold
E_chiller
H_CHP

30

0,25

cost_electricity
Egrid
E_HCPV
Ecool_demad
H_boiler
H_demand

20
kW

0,15
0,1

10

/kWh

0,2

0,05

Edemand
E_CHP
E_sold
E_chiller
H_CHP

30

0,25

25

0,2

0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 13: Simulation results for a summer day

Case 1.Office
Table 6: Objective function value for different
cases studied
Configuration
Winter Fall/spring Summer
A
87
51
17
B
110
84
115
C
106
55
17
D
130
88
115
Sensitivity analysis
A sensitivity analysis has been assessed to
understand the influence of the main model
parameters on the results.
At first the influence of the weighting factors on
the poly-generation system (configuration A)
operating conditions has been evaluated. As
previously introduced, setting the same factors
for the three objectives stresses on the
minimisation of the primary energy consumption.
In those cases, as shown in the three cases
analysed, the electricity purchase price do not
influence the number of operating hours of the
micro-CHP system. The result is different when
a higher weight is attributed to operating cost
criteria. For instance figure 14 shows the
simulation results for the office case in a
spring/fall day when only the minimisation of
operating cost criteria is considered (in this case
the weighting factors are respectively w1=1,
w2=0 and w3=0). In this case, the electricity price
influences the hybrid system behaviour because
the micro-CHP unit is switched on when the
electricity price is higher. In this condition, the
thermal load, produced by the CHP system, is
stored in the TES unit. To better understand the
influence of the weighting factors, Table 7
reports the number of operating hours of the
micro-CHP unit as a function of the w1, w2 and
w3 factors. Giving much more weight to
operating costs causes a reduction in the ICE
operating hours in winter days, and makes the
ICE less dependent on the thermal demand. At
the contrary, in summer days the operating
hours are increased, since it is possible to use
the ICE during intense electric demand period

kW

20

0,15

15
0,1

10

/kWh

cost_electricity
Egrid
E_HCPV
Ecool_demad
H_boiler
H_demand

0,05

5
0

0
1

11 13 15 17 19 21 23
hours

Figure 14: Simulation results for a summer day

Case 3. Office
Table 7: Objective function value for different
cases studied (Case 1.10_flat apartment
building, Case 2. hotel, Case 3. Office),
configuration A
WINTER
W1
W2=W3 CASE 1 CASE 2 CASE 3
0
0.5
23
23
12
0.25 0.75/2
23
23
12
0.5
0.25
23
23
12
0.75 0.125
20
23
12
1
0
17
17
12
SPRING/FALL
W1
W2=W3 CASE 1 CASE 2 CASE 3
0
0.5
11
7
4
0.25 0.75/2
11
7
4
0.5
0.25
11
7
4
0.75 0.125
7
7
4
1
0
5
4
4
SUMMER
W1
W2=W3 CASE 1 CASE 2 CASE 3
0
0.5
0
0
0
0.25 0.75/2
0
0
0
0.5
0.25
0
0
0
0.75 0.125
1
0
0
1
0
4
5
5
Furthermore it can be observed that the
purchasing price influences much more the first
two cases, characterised by higher thermal
demand and thus higher space of manoeuvre
for the micro-CHP unit.
Finally the influence of the selling electricity
price on hybrid system operating conditions has
been assessed. Its influence can be observed
only when the w1 increases at values higher
than 50%. For instance if w1 is 0.75, the number
of ICE operating hours for the residential case
increases for a winter, spring/fall and summer
day of respectively, 23 (from 20), 10 (from 7)
and 4 (from 1).

CONCLUSIONS AND REMARKS

An optimal energy dispatch algorithm has been
developed to define the optimization strategy of
a hybrid poly-generation system made up of an
ICE and a HCPV system. The main findings of
the work are the following :

optimal management of a hybrid system

provides advantages (in terms of operating
costs, carbon dioxide emissions and primary
usage consumption) compared to separate
production. Micro-CHP units and HCPVs
modules are conveniently used in: i) winter
and fall/spring days and ii) for all the three
cases analysed. These results suggest the
applicability of a hybrid system, in particular
for all the areas characterised by a reduced
number of hot climate periods;

SP
()CHP
()el
()f
()HCPV
()O&M
()op
()sell

separate production
CHP
electric
fuel
HCPV
operative and maintenance
operative
sell

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Professor Carlo Maria Bartolini is gratefully
acknowledged for his support and help in
developing the work.

a reduction ranging from 30% to 50% in the

operating costs, in the carbon dioxide
emissions and in the primary energy
consumption can be achieved adopting an
optimal dispatch algorithm with respect to
separate production. This suggests and
underlines the advantage of a real-time
management strategy;

REFERENCES

the electricity purchase and sell price affects

the hybrid system operation only when a
higher weight is attributed to the operating
costs. This means that the advantages of
variable electricity prices can be effectively
appreciated only following a minimisation
criteria based on the operating costs;

[3] A.D. Peacock, M. Newborough, Impact of

micro-CHP systems on domestic sector CO2
emissions, Applied Thermal Engineering 25
(2005) 2653-2676

the application of a HCPV system is

beneficial for all the analysed cases,
providing a reduction of the primary energy
consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and
of operating costs compared with SP. This
trend is particularly evident in sunny periods
and for low thermal demand users, as in the
office case;

[5]

as regards the cooling devices, the

absorption chiller is never chosen by the
multi-objective
optimisation
strategy,
suggesting that the best option is the
adoption of a vapour compression chiller.

NOMENCLATURE
C
CDE
E
F

PEC
PEFC

cost []
carbon dioxide emissions [tonCO2eq]
electric energy [MWh]
fuel consumption [MWh]
emission factor [tonCO2eq/MWh]
primary energy consumption [toe]
primary energy conversion factor
[toe/MWh]

[1] Communication from the Commission of 13

November 2008 - Energy efficiency:
delivering the 20% target (COM(2008) 772)
[2] IEA Report, 25 energy efficiency policy
recommendations,http://www.iea.org/efficien
cy/energy_efficiency_policy.pdf

[4] PV grid parity monitor, October 2012,

http://www.leonardoenergy.org/sites/leonard
o-energy/files/PV_GPM_Issue_1.pdf
J.M. Pearce, Expanding photovoltaic
penetration with residential distributed
generation from hybrid solar photovoltaic and
combined heat and power systems Energy
34 (2009) 1947-1954

[6] F.Caresana, C. Brandoni, P. Feliciotti, C. M.

Bartolini, Energy and economic analysis of
an ICE-based variable speed-operated
micro-cogenerator, Applied Energy 88 (2011)
659-671
[7] C. Brandoni, M.Renzi, Hybrid renewable
energy systems made up of high
concentration PV solar technology and
micro-CHP, Proceedings of Eurosun 2012,
ISES Europe Solar Conference, ISBN 978953-6886-20-3.
[8] How to develop a sustainable energy action
plan (SEAP).http://www.eumayors.eu/IMG/pd
f/seap_guidelines_en.pdf
[9] Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity and Gas.
Recommendation EEN 3/08 Aggiornamento del
fattore di conversione dei kWh in tonnellate
equivalenti di petrolio connesso al meccanismo dei
titoli di efcienza energetica.

Figure 1: Configurations considered in the analysis